The present invention relates to the field of vehicle devices, and, more particularly, to a tracking and alerting system for a vehicle.
Motor vehicles, such as passenger cars, trucks, busses, fleet vehicles, etc. are widely used and knowing the locations of such vehicles is often desired. For example, should a vehicle be stolen, it would be beneficial to know the vehicle""s location so that authorities could be promptly and accurately directed to retrieve the vehicle. Indeed, the tracking system could plot the getaway path of the thief.
For a company with hired drivers, it may be desirable to know the driver""s whereabouts during the course of the day. Similarly, a rental car agency or other fleet operator, for example, may wish to know the whereabouts of its fleet of vehicles.
It may also be desirable to track the location of a vehicle as it is used throughout the course of a normal day. For parents of younger or older drivers, for example, knowledge of the vehicle""s location may provide some assurance that the driver is at designated locations and following a prescribed route.
A number of patents disclose various systems and approaches to tracking vehicles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,844 discloses a tracking system including a control center and a mobile unit installed in the vehicle. The mobile unit may send security warnings to the command center via a wireless transceiver. Position information for the vehicle is determined using a GPS receiver at the vehicle.
U.S. Patent No. 5,515,043 discloses a similar system which may send one or more preprogrammed telephone messages to a user when away from the vehicle. The user may remotely access location information or cause certain commands to be carried out by entering a personal identification number (PIN).
The widespread availability and use of the Internet has prompted a number of vehicle tracking systems to also make use of the Internet. For example, TelEvoke, Inc. proposed such a system in combination with Clifford Electronics. The system was to provide notification, control and tracking services via the telephone or the Internet. Users could be notified via phone, e-mail, or pager of events such as a car alarm being triggered. Users could control the vehicle remote devices via phone, web, or PDA such as unlocking car doors. Additionally, users could track TelEvoke-enabled vehicles on the Internet or via the telephone. An Internet map could be viewed by the user showing the actual and prior vehicle locations. TelEvoke offered its services via a centralized fully automated Network Operations Center. To reduce the communications costs, it was proposed to use the control channel of the cellular telephone network.
Unfortunately, the number of codes available for use in certain communications approaches may be limited. For example, when using the cellular communications channel, the number of codes is presently relatively restricted. Thus, possible communications with a vehicle tracking device may also be limited.
In view of the foregoing background, it is therefore an object of the invention to provide a tracking system and related methods, whereby a number of codes used for communication can be conserved.
This and other objects, features and advantages in accordance with the present invention are provided by a vehicle tracking system comprising a vehicle tracking unit and a monitoring station communicating therewith. The vehicle tracking unit may include a vehicle position determining device, a wireless communications device, and a controller connected to the wireless communications device and the vehicle position determining device. More particularly, the controller may have a plurality of different controller states and respond differently to a same message from the monitoring station at different times depending upon the controller state at a given time. Accordingly, a number of codes or messages used by the system can be conserved.
A controller state may change based upon a change in at least one vehicle device, based upon a message received by the wireless communications device from the monitoring station, and/or based upon elapsed time. In addition, the controller states may comprise an alert sent state based upon an alert message being sent from the wireless communications device. Thereafter, receipt of a predetermined message by the wireless communications device when the controller is in the alert sent state may confirm receipt of the alert message by the monitoring station.
Of course, receipt of the predetermined message by the wireless communications device when the controller is in another state different than the alert sent state may thus cause a different response by the controller. The alert sent state may comprise at least one of an vehicle stolen alert sent state, a vehicle alarm sounding alert sent state, a vehicle speeding alert sent state, an unauthorized remote transmitter alert sent state, a low vehicle battery alert sent state, and a device malfunction alert sent state.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a sequence of codes or messages sent within a predetermined time can also cause a different response at the vehicle tracking unit. In other words, the plurality of controller states may comprise a received first message state based upon a first message being received by the wireless communications device from the monitoring station. Receipt of a second message by the wireless communications device when the controller is in the received first message state, that is, within a predetermined time window, for example, may thus cause a different response by the controller than does receipt of the second message when the controller is in another state than the received first message state.
The plurality of controller states may comprise a vehicle finder state sounding an audible signal at the vehicle. In this state the controller would bypass sending a vehicle alarm sounding alert to the monitoring station.
The vehicle position determining device may comprise a Global Positioning System (GPS) device. The wireless communications device may comprise a cellular telephone communications device, such as operating over the cellular telephone control channel.
The monitoring station may include a user interface for accepting at least one command from a user and sending at least one alert to the user. For example, the user interface may comprise an Internet interface, and/or a telephone network interface.
A method aspect of the invention relates to operating a vehicle tracking system of a type comprising a vehicle tracking unit and a monitoring station communicating therewith. The vehicle tracking unit, as described briefly above, may include a vehicle position determining device, a wireless communications device, and a controller connected to the wireless communications device and the vehicle position determining device. The method may include determining which of a plurality of different controller states the controller is in at a given time, and responding differently to a same message from the monitoring station at different times depending upon the controller state of the controller at the given time. Accordingly, the number of codes or messages used may be conserved.